1. Field of the Invention
The embodiments of the invention relate to debugging tools. Specifically, the embodiments of the invention relate to a method and system for generating a graphical representation of JAVA bytecode.
2. Background
Debugging tools for JAVA programs rely on the execution of the program in a development environment and the insertion of debugging specific instructions within the source code of the JAVA application. Inserting these instructions into the source code requires significant programmer effort. Executing these debugging specific instructions is computationally intensive and requires the use of extra computational resources. The speed of execution of the program is diminished. The JAVA virtual machine must also be run in a debug mode and the source code must be compiled with a debugging setting. Making these changes or having this control is not always possible or efficient.
Further, when an error occurs and the debugging instructions are utilized to generate a trace or print a stack related to the program, a large amount of trace data is generated that is difficult for a human being to review and utilize. A large amount of data is presented in a log or text file where it is difficult to see the inter-relationship between the different aspects of a program when viewing this trace file. This obscures the underlying errors that cause any exception that is being debugged.
Debugging tools do not provide an overview of the structure of a program based on analysis of the JAVA bytecode. Development environments and debugging tools display the source code for a program. The development environments and debugging tools do display the inter-relationships between classes and methods of a program and other programs based on an analysis of the calls and importing features of the source programs. However, if the source code and importation data are not available, such as when working with programs already compiled in JAVA bytecode, then these applications cannot assist the user.